Spot-backed Antbird (Hylophylax naevius) — Vorstman's Guide to the Birds of the Andes and West Coast

Voice

The song is a series of five to ten double, rather thin whistles, becoming softer and lower towards the end. Calls are a short, descending chew and a dry rattle.

Listen: SongXC1004603

Recording: Christian Kerihuel — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto

Identification

11–12 cm, with a short tail. The male has a grey head, a black throat and an olive-brown back with black and buff spots; the wing coverts are black with buff tips. The underparts are white, with a band of black spots across the breast and buff flanks; the tail has a pale terminal band. The female has a whitish throat and warmer buff underparts with less distinct spots.

Confusion species

Dot-backed Antbird Hylophylax punctulatus has white dots on the back, greyer cheeks and whiter underparts and lives mainly in flooded forest. Common Scale-backed Antbird Willisornis poecilinotus has a scaled back, a grey or brown breast without a band of spots and follows ant swarms. Banded Antbird Dichrozona cincta walks on the ground, has a very short tail and a pale rump band.

Habitat

Understorey of humid terra firme lowland forest, locally also old secondary forest and the foot of the Andes, up to about 1000 m. It forages in pairs for insects and spiders low above the ground, sometimes in mixed flocks or at the edge of ant swarms. The nest is an open cup low in a shrub.

Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.

Range and movements

Colombia: east of the Andes, from Meta and Vichada south to Amazonas. Ecuador: in the eastern lowlands and foothills. Peru: throughout the Amazonian lowlands. Bolivia: in the north (Pando, Beni and La Paz). Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in southern Venezuela, the Guianas and Amazonian Brazil.

Resident
dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Density map from the occurrence records of GBIF (2006-10-01 – 2026-09-30), counted per 1.41° grid cell and per month and divided by all bird records in that same cell — so the number of birdwatchers does not shape the picture. Colour depth follows that share and fades out gradually, so the map does not follow national borders. Country outlines: Natural Earth (public domain).

How and when to look

In terra firme forest in eastern Ecuador or Peru, listen for the series of double whistles; singing birds usually perch low and can be found with patience.

Conservation status

Least Concern. The species is common and widespread.

Scientific name

Hylophylax naevius | (Gmelin, 1789)

Gmelin described the species in 1789 as Pipra naevia; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Hylophylax was introduced in 1909 by Ridgway. The genus name comes from Greek hulē, 'forest', and phulax, 'guard'. The species name comes from Latin naevius, 'spotted'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Cayenne, French Guiana.